Category Archives: Shop Local

It’s been a whirlwind shutting down the spa. So many people dropped by while we were getting rid of things, moving things, and cleaning up. It has been wonderful to connect with you all one last time at the spa, and heartwarming to see all the people reaching out to connect and share how much they loved coming to I.M. Spa.

I have always felt grateful for my ability to connect with people at the spa. Grateful that people allowed me the honor of connecting with them on that level. There is no other job on the planet where you can give another human your undivided attention for a whole hour in that way, providing a supportive environment on the table for release and healing. A special thank you to all the people who intentionally did business with us consistently and unwaveringly throughout the years. You know who you are. We would not have been able to have such a stable business for 10 years without your support. So much gratitude!! Thank you for being such an important part of my life.

I have so many things I want to do now. You can follow me on my new adventures by putting your email address in the ‘subscribe’ box on the upper right hand corner of this blog.

So, if you have not already heard, Fiddlehead Fern Therapeutics is taking over our client load. Many of you will remember Jesse Lynn from the earlier days of I.M. Spa. She did the first mobile spa party for 10 women with me 10 years ago. OMG that was sooo much work preparing for that, making sure that we had everything we needed to pull that off seemlessly. Both of us were nursing babies at the time, her son Rubin and my fourth son Ben. I know she and her colleagues at the Fern will take good care of you. All you have to do to make an appointment is call our phone number 479-251-7422.

Linay Walker was new to our staff this year. She gave an amazing and therapeutic massage and had quite a following. She can be found at Santos Chiropractic where they offer a $50 one hour massage and an $80 hour and a half massage:

Lisa Fogel has been our acupuncturist for years and years. I love her. I especially love how she is just as nerdy about acupuncture as I am about health and massage. She is always sharing articles with me of research on the effectiveness of acupuncture. So great. Her new office is: 479-435-3901

Nora has worked with me for almost 10 years and she is in the same boat as me physically. She has decided to retire from massage therapy because of pain related to practice. She has touched so many people and will be greatly missed. I love getting massages from Nora. Trading days were good days, though there were not as many as their should have been.

The Breast Center scooped up our fabulous Natalie. You will probably see her when you go for your biannual breast mashing. She will be helping women dealing with breast cancer which is a huge thing. We’re really fortunate to have such good people on that mission over at the Breast Center.

Thank you for your patience with this transition. The community has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive, and always I feel so fortunate to live with all of you here in Fayetteville. We really have a great community y’all.

Love, love, love,

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, student nurse tech at a local hospital, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 22 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health.

In July I was playing catch with my son Ben in the city pool with a waterlogged ball and it jammed my finger. The thing never healed and in November I went to get it X-rayed because it seemed ridiculous that it wouldn’t have healed in that amount of time. VA health care is amazing. They X-rayed my finger in all possible directions and called me in November with the verdict. Arthritis.

At first I was like hm. That sucks. And I went back to work thinking nothing more of it.

In the next couple of weeks I noticed that all my fingers ached. They felt like the had gum or taffy around the joints, my hands ached when I did massages, and I was having pain with everyday use. Playing volleyball with my boys jarred my fingers, Whenever Craig would squeeze my hands, a loving gesture, it surprised us both when I yelped in pain. Opening jars in the kitchen was a challenge.

It took me a while to comprehend what having arthritis in my fingers meant to me in the grand scheme of things. I have discovered that it means I can no longer practice massage therapy. Yes, my doctor had to tell me this before I got the hint, especially since doing massage for 22 years caused the problem to begin with.

This is the new normal.

So, I.M. Spa had just started renovating the new space for expansion. We were adding a yoga studio and an extra treatment room, as well as building in plans to expand and include a smoothie bar when my life wasn’t so complicated with nursing school. We had just bought $350 worth of body wax and thousands in Eminence products.

Towards the end of December it was clear that there was no other decision to make. We had to close I.M. Spa.

What does this mean to you if you are a client? We are in the process of negotiating a new home for our clients. You don’t need to worry about using your gift certificates. There will be a place for you to go, but because this happened so fast we are still navigating that territory. When we get it sorted out (within the next couple of weeks) we will give you detailed instructions. You should be able to simply call the same number and book an appointment in the new location.

If you currently have an appointment you will be rescheduled. It’s going to be okay. We anticipate having a ton of phone calls in reaction to this information. I would encourage you to wait a couple weeks to call (Mid-January) while we find a home for you. If you feel like you can’t wait, then please leave a detailed message when you do call.

I feel very fortunate for being able to touch people the way we have been able to with I.M. Spa. I have worked on this business for 10 years and it has been amazing. Our clients are fabulous, a wonderful network of extended family that I will miss immensely.

Building this business has taught me so much. I have learned that I have tremendous stamina and drive (enough to crush the cartilege in between my finger joints :). I have learned to do accounting, marketing, managing, human resources, retail (not the favorite), and conflict resolution. I have learned how tremendously difficult it is to be a small business owner and I love our community of small business owners in downtown Fayetteville. They exist because you consciously choose to support them. I have learned that I love helping people, and no matter where I end up, I know that that is what I want to do.

If you know anybody who needs an awesome, organized, reliable, loyal, good tempered problem solver let us know, because sweet Natalie needs a job now. She definitely gets stuff done! Don’t have them contact me unless they plan to pay her well and take good care of her because she deserves it.

Thank you for supporting I.M. Spa for the past 10 years. And keep an eye out for our next newsletter!!

Love, love, love, and Happy New Year!! Wendy

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, student nurse tech at a local hospital, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 22 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health.

It has been almost 2 years since my husband Craig and I both decided to go to nursing school full time. At the time I didn’t think there was any way possible for me to continue with I.M. Spa and be in school full time, and I am grateful every day for the opportunity to keep walking into our space and connecting with our community through health and massage. I’m grateful to our staff because they truly are the ones who have made it happen.

We’re also grateful to you. Without you choosing to get massage, facials, acupuncture, and waxing at I.M. Spa we would not be here. Thank you for choosing I.M. Spa for your bodywork needs. I’m so honored every time I walk into a treatment room that I get to share that space with this community.

I am busier than I have ever been at this point in my life. I work with I.M. Spa, I go to nursing school full time, I have a part time job at the VA as a student nurse tech to get experience, and I have 3 of my 4 kids at home doing everything they do. Thank goodness we have such an amazing community helping us out. Friends helping pick up our kids from school when we’re in class, friends helping kids get where they need to go, community everywhere supporting us all along the way. You know who you are :). Fayetteville is an amazing place and I can’t imagine making it through without this beautiful combination of people in our community. We’re so grateful.

I’m really looking forward to getting done with nursing school in May of 2016! What a relief that will be! We’ll have to have a party!

There are some exciting changes in the works for I.M. Spa. We are moving to Evelyn Hills (next to Ozark Natural Foods, Uncle Sam’s, Cardamom & Curry, Treasures from Africa, and Handmade) and expanding to include a yoga studio. Downtown has been good to us. We are looking forward to more great neighbors, great parking, a place for you to drop off your kids while you get a facial or do a yoga class (Arkadia), and continuing doing what we do best.

We’ll keep you posted as the transition happens. We’ll be on Block Street till the beginning of January. And then we’ll have a big party in the new space!! In August we will have been on Block Street for 6 years! Hard to believe. It has been a sweet time.

Thank you for continuing to support I.M. Spa! We look forward to serving you. It’s a favorite.

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, student nurse tech at the VA hospital, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

It’s that time of year again. Time to honor our father’s for their contributions to our lives. Whether it’s with time fishing or a hiking date, time in the spa for a foot massage date with your dad, I hope you are able to connect with your dad this Father’s Day, the 21st of June (which also happens to be the Summer Solstice).

My dad has passed, but he was a troubador, traveling all over the states, playing music, sleeping at friends houses and in a camper on his truck on the way. I wouldn’t hear from him for months sometimes and then one of my friends would have what we called an “Ed sighting.” Somebody had seen him at a festival or some town along the way, Luckenbach, Kerrville, Mexico, Cody, or somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona and they always went out of their way to tell us about it. It was a pretty good system.

I was at the bank last week and ran into an old friend, Josh, who has a deep appreciation for my dad. I hadn’t seen Josh in a few years. We hugged and he started to tell me a story about coming home one day to a hand written card attached to a CD of my dad’s music. The card said, “a wind blew through while you were gone.” It was a reference to a song that my dad had gotten some recognition for called, “A Wind Blows Through West Texas.” It was the first “Ed Sighting” we have had for a while. My dad was a character. A charismatic performer and story teller. I’m so glad when people remember him to me.

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

A friend of mine called me up and asked me to come help her make a raw food cake for her birthday. I can’t think of a better way to spend a friend’s birthday than to do it playing in the kitchen together. And besides, it’s a berry time of year. Strawberries, blueberries, black raspberries. Berries.

We used a recipe from “Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Essentials.” But we had to modify it to make it work for us. Here is the original recipe:

3 cups walnuts

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup Medjool dates

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp agave

All this is processed one ingredient at a time in the food processor. We discovered that walnuts are very oily and needed to counteract that so we added enough almond flour to dry it up and give it a better texture. For the filling we used Ani’s original recipe:

2 cups fruit (Gina chose lemons)

1/2 cup agave

Whizzed up in the blender. Once again our sauce was too liquid, not like a cake filling at all. So we added psyllium till the texture was more like a pudding. One of the cool things about psyllium is that it is great for the digestive tract and is used in the medical industry as fiber for the GI tract. We added whole raspberries to the sauce and sprinkled the top with shredded coconut. Super Yum for my beautiful friend on her birthday!

As an add on to this tribute to berries, a friend of our family’s whom we have known for years came by the other day and brought us Black Raspberries (yes, that’s a thing). She said the birds planted them in her yard. How cool is that?

Black Raspberries from a Good Friend

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

Mother’s Day is coming this Sunday! And you already know that the best thing you can get the moms in your life is a Gift Certificate and a Gift Basket from I.M. Spa. I can’t tell you how many women come in to the spa and say, “I keep telling them to get me a massage, but they never remember.”

But you may not know about some other awesome local businesses in the area that would be perfect for your mom’s day presents. For instance, there is a Mother’s Day tradition here in Northwest Arkansas at Chotkowski Gardens where you can walk through the peony gardens from 1 to 4p.m. Every year I see the invitations for this event and never seem to be able to make it out, but this year I’m taking my whole family and as many friends as I can wrangle. I love peonies

I wish there was a smell feature on the computer, because peonies smell divine!

Read here if you want a little giggle about why you should honor your mother.

Me and My Mom

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

I just finished up a clinical rotation in Mental Health this semester. It’s enough to make you suffer from depression! Or at the very least need a massage for your Mental Health.

Our instructors and books say repeatedly that our jail systems are the biggest warehouse for the mentally ill. There may not be any inpatient beds for somebody suffering with psychosis, but somehow they fit right into our jails. Our mentally ill are being incarcerated for behaviors that are a result of mental illness, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s, or addiction. Many of them are homeless. They need treatment, medications, and support.

And probably the most depressing part of Mental Health Clinicals is the adolescent unit. These kids have endured trauma and abuse beyond what I can fathom, and when they leave the treatment facility will return to the people and situations that caused their pain to begin with. It’s downright depressing.

And it’s not just that there is a little bit of mental illness. Mental health is similar to physical health. Sometimes you get sick. Most of the time you’re pretty healthy. And sometimes you have a lifelong illness (physical or mental) that needs lifelong treatment. Most people can identify times in their lives when they were out of balance, overly anxious, stressed, depressed, or just not functioning as well mentally as they know they are capable. And all of us know people in our family, friends, or community who are suffering with more extreme forms of those imbalances. Mental illness touches us all.

I’m grateful for the dedicated Mental Health care professionals that I have met this semester. God Bless Them! We need them so badly. We need funding and policy changes to allow mental health the same importance and voice that physical problems like cancer get. We need more health care providers to get excited about helping people with mental health problems, to serve health care in that capacity.

I actually feel guilty because I prefer to work with people with their guts falling out than with mental health problems, because at least if your guts are falling out I can stuff ’em back inside and slap a bandage on it. In mental health, the guts are falling out, and people are bleeding out, but you can’t stuff it back in. You can’t see it. It’s not so easy. I guess I feel disempowered by mental illness. There is no immediate fix, no bandage, just a winding road of possibilities and not enough resources for long term support.

But at the same time, I deal with mental illness/health all the time in a positive way, on the massage table. And it has been a very empowering relationship. People come to us in pain, grieving loss, with anxiety and depression, and needing help with dealing with the stress of everyday life on the planet. We are honored every day that our community chooses to come to us for stress relief.

According to University of Maryland, massage makes us feel better by the “release of endorphins (natural painkillers and mood elevators),” and reducing the levels of stress hormones (cortisol). Endorphins are one of the main neurotransmitters involved in depression and bipolar.

Massage Therapy for Mental Health

So, looking at the mental health problems our country is faced with right now may be devastatingly depressing, but thank goodness there is massage therapy for those times when we are in pain, grieving loss, having anxiety and depression, and needing help with dealing with the stress of everyday life on the planet. I guess massage is the bandage that I feel empowered by when dealing with the guts of every day mental health/illness. I’m grateful to have it in my life.

If this post was so stressful that you now need a massage, call 479-251-7422 to schedule an appointment. Or you could just come get a massage because you know you need it. Or because we haven’t seen you in forever. Please pop in to I.M. Spa to see us when you are downtown for the Farmer’s Market! If for no other reason than that it is good for OUR mental health to see you!

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

I am a low maintenance woman, trucking through my days, minding my own business. I never look in the mirror, and I’m doing good to coordinate my clothes from one day to the next. I just don’t have time for it.

But every now and then I notice my legs are flaking, my feet are cracked, and my face is dry like the Sahara.

One of my 20 year old colleagues in nursing school showed me her hands one day and they did look like dry cracked desert ground. They were to the point of bleeding. She was using a generic cleanser that had lotion in it with mineral oil (besides constantly using hand sanitizer at our clinical site. One time we were in post conference and I pointed out to her that while we had been sitting there she had sanitized her hands 3 times–serious overkill). And she was using a lotion with mineral oil in it as well. She had been putting the generic lotion on at night with socks on her hands to try to keep the lotion in, but she didn’t realize that mineral oil actually robs the skin and causes a dependence on the lotion (even though the lotion isn’t really helping–nice marketing strategy eh?).

I brought her some organic, beeswax based Badger Balm for Hardworking Hands and told her to start using a basic nontoxic soap like Dr. Bronner’s (diluted). She started using the Badger Balm on her hands at bedtime with socks on them and 4 days later I asked her about it.

Badger Balm Body Butter

She said, “Oh my God, I wanted to text you guys (our clinical group) a picture because, look at my hands! They are so much better.”

It has been my experience that organic, natural, basic products work better than mainstream products created by large chemical companies. Don’t get sucked in by the pretty packaging and the unsubstantiated claims. Your skin needs edible products, not shelf stable chemicals.

Want a recipe for an amazing home facial? Go here to read about our facial post.

In the meantime, if you are ready for your skin to be well cared for, come in to see us and we will cleanse, exfoliate, mask, and moisturize you so that you can once again face the brutal cold that is winter.

And yes, we carry Badger Balm, Eminence Organics, and other clean products that you can trust. Come on in and play with the samples.

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

As soon as my kids started back to school they started bringing home the germs. Ben, my 9 year old just recovered from an upper respiratory infection that knocked him down for 3 days. Yuck. And all the girls around me in nursing school are sniffling and sneezing. Flu season is coming!

One of my teachers was actually teaching a section on proper procedures and systems to help employees be able to go home sick without consequences to keep from spreading contagious illnesses in the nursing home.

She taught this class while she was so sick she couldn’t even talk.

I was sick this semester and didn’t want to contaminate the patients at the hospital and stayed home for one day, but I probably should have stayed home 2 days.

Sometimes it’s hard to go home when we should.

You may have heard me say it before, we are 10 times more bacterial cells than we are our own cells. We need those little buggers. But we don’t want to get those germs that make us get sick and have to call in.

I have a bad attitude towards the toxic hand sanitizers that are all over our kids’ schools, hospitals, and in the checkout lanes of the major stores. The ones that are alcohol based are just fine. The ones you want to watch out for are those containing TRICLOSAN. It is a thyroid and estrogen disrupting chemical that is also related to an increase in food allergies. It is found in hand sanitizers and toothpastes and has been banned in Minnesota, and is being investigated by the FDA.

When we are looking at products we can put our name behind here at the spa we look for products that do the job, but don’t make you sick in the process.

We carry a hand sanitizer at I.M. Spa that uses Tea Tree Oil and we love it. So if you feel like you need a hand sanitizer this flu season and you don’t feel like damaging yourself in the process, come by and pick some up.

When I took Microbiology at the University of Arkansas, we did a lab test on different kinds of antiseptics to see which ones were most effective, and tea tree oil outperformed all the others.

Tea Tree Sanitizer

I think the future of medicine is going to involve more development of healthy bacterial biomes and environments, and less attempts to wipe out bacterial populations. In the meantime, this hand sanitizer will help you maintain your bacterial biome without threatening your hormonal balance, your potential for food allergies, or your risk for getting the flu.

Can’t wait to see you at the spa! Happy shopping!

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. Schedule an appointment for a massage 479-251-7422

As a small business owner, I value small businesses. We have the best small business community here in Fayetteville, with very unique, high quality, one of a kind talents, services, and goods.

When I’m thinking about getting a gift for a family member, friend, or colleague I actively look for things to buy that they can’t find anywhere else, that are unique to their personality, and that are high quality and local. I want my money to stay in my community. I don’t want it to go to some corporate headquarters that got tax subsidies for bringing their ginormous, monochromatic styles to our city.

I want to shop in a place where people make eye contact, say “hey, how are you doing, I’m so glad to see you.”

I want to connect with people from my community when I’m in their businesses. Revel in what they are geeky about. Be excited about their skills and talents.

I like to walk into a small local business and know that there is only one store on the planet with this particular layout. It is unique. It has its on flavor. And it is beautiful.

We are lucky to live in a place with such active support of small local businesses. This community really shows that we put our money back into our community, supports our local businesses, uniqueness, and diversity.

The best vote we have in this country is where we spend our dollars. We choose what we believe in every time we spend. I believe in Fayetteville local businesses.

Thank you for shopping local this season.

There are some fabulous new shops downtown. Andrea K. who used to do massage here with us at I.M. Spa opened up her own local business called Cask and Grove. I never knew that there was a whole world of infused oils and balsamic vinegars. When you go in there you can taste all the flavors, like fig balsamic with blood orange olive oil, or peach balsamic with chipotle olive oil. They’re on Center Street just across from Taste of Thai.

Center Street Mercantile

Another fabulous new shop that just opened up is The Center Street Mercantile. It’s underneath David Adams jewelry shop. They have intricately beaded bracelets, hand made laundry soaps, and cleaning supplies, hand carved crafts, locally sourced jams, even crocheted flamingos.

Foxtrot

And our newest neighbor on Block Street is Foxtrot. They have one of a kind styles and if you are in the neighborhood to check out their boutique, you get the bonus of being able to pet their resident chocolate lab.

Wit & Whimsy-Boutique. This young woman is an inspiring entrepreneur from Missouri who came to Fayetteville with her fashion and business. Love her.

Ultra Studios-Fashion boutique & salon. Brooke Benham owns this beautiful shop and now she does hair too. Love it here.

Himalayan Mountain Shop-cool imports from Nepal & Bhutan. Have I told you lately how much I LOVE Lama Thinley and Sandy from the Himalayan Mtn. Shop? Their store is awesome!
Lama Thinley at the Himalayan Mtn Shop

Dark Star Visuals-Bead,Specialty gifts, and Boutique. Stacy at Dark Star is old school Fayetteville and a treasure to have downtown. Her most recent passion is healing stones. They are dazzling. Ask her about them when you go in. Everybody needs a little healing.
Dark Star Visuals

World Treasures-Guatemalan Imports. I aspire to go back and forth to Guatemala as often as these guys do. In the meantime I can pick up gifts for my family there that give us a taste of what it is like there. So grateful to have them in our neighborhood of shops.
World Treasures

Pack Rat-These guys have had this shop for a looong time. They are committed to clean, green products, community, and anything outdoors. Love them. And when you go shop there, say hey to my son Levi!
Levi Helping Ben With the Climbing WallPackrat Owners, too beautiful!

Farmer’s Table just opened this year and it is run by this amazing couple who are so active in our community working with Feed Fayetteville to improve foods in our community. Good stuff!

There are tons more great food places at the Yacht Club on College, Center Street, and Dickson. So many flavors, so little time.

And I almost forgot! We have this sweet new tea shop downtown called Savoy Tea Company that sells great drinks, smoothies, and teas. It’s a great place to take your neice or nephew for a date (that’s what I like to do!) and have special one on one time.

And if you have a kid who likes longboarding (or a grown up kid) you HAVE to go to The Path. They even kept me from shopping at the mall this season cuz they carry Vans shoes.

And we just discovered this beautiful shop on College Avenue, Dick Palmer Archery. He is 81 years old and has been there making custom made arrows since forever. He stocks leather finger guards and quivers for arrows, hunting gear, and even slingshots. I have been in Fayetteville since 1993 and I am just now discovering this hidden gem. And I have 4 boys. Jeez! Please go check it out. He’s a treasure.

I heard there is a new gourmet kitchen shop on Dickson Street but I’m not sure where it is yet. And Lauren Jamesstarted out as an online store but just set up brick and mortar on Dickson Street as well.

Our website (I.M. Spa) has been updated to make it easy to buy gift certificates. You can find us here

Can’t wait to see you downtown! There are sooo many good things happening here! Come discover them!

Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health.